


Bound

by Koschei_Oakdown



Category: Green Lantern - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 06:46:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18231344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koschei_Oakdown/pseuds/Koschei_Oakdown
Summary: Tiny threat of torture





	Bound

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to DC Comics

Just out of Hal's line of sight, Sinestro paced, back and forth, feet quiet against the smooth surface of the ground. Every so often, Hal caught a glimpse of him, strained his eyes to see, and Sinestro did not look in a particularly good way. His muscles were tight, lines sharper than usual under his suit, and his face was dangerously impassive.

For the past ten minutes, Sinestro had been acting this way, and Hal didn't even want to know what was going through his head. Probably some high-speed calculations that ended up being absolutely pointless, because it was clear to Hal what Sinestro needed to do. Just, for some reason, Sinestro wasn't doing it, was refusing to, if his behaviour was anything to go by.

Finally having had enough of playing the tight-lipped reluctant prisoner, Hal rolled his eyes to the ceiling and asked, "You gonna get started, or is this some way of trying to bore me into spilling everything I know? Because, hate to tell you, it's not gonna work. It's a fairly terrible plan. Like, I'm shocked, Sin, that you would even think something like this could work."

In a split second, Sinestro stood at the end of the table Hal was strapped to, glaring down at him. Hal had to go slightly cross-eyed to see him now, unable to move his head for it had been strapped down too. "Shut up," Sinestro snapped. His hands came down to rest on the table near Hal's feet so he could loom over. "I'm thinking." And with that, he returned to his pacing, hands now neatly folded behind his back.

Clearly, Hal wasn't being annoying enough. He licked his dry lips, he was hungry and thirsty, had been stuck here on Qward for some time now. This was the first time since he'd been carelessly bound in here that he had anyone to talk to though. "Well, your brain isn't going as fast as it should be if you're still tryna figure out what to do with me," Hal prodded at the still pacing figure, and gave up on trying to keep Sinestro in sight. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the ceiling.

"I told you to be quiet, Jordan, lest I cut out your tongue," Sinestro threatened but he sounded distracted and Hal didn't take it seriously. "Are you trying to make this easier for me? Perhaps you do not understand the position I have you in." This time at Hal's side, Sinestro was back, and he leaned in to block Hal's view of the ceiling. "Should you not tell me everything you know, I shall torture the information out of you. I shall leave you begging for death."

A glint of yellow light reflected off Sinestro's bared white teeth, they were gorgeous, and unfairly perfect, he was unfairly perfect. Hal figured he should probably have more important things on his mind than how good looking Sinestro may or may not be. But it was distracting, even as Hal was trying to stay focused on his goal here, on the situation at hand.

"You'll have to kill me first," Hal was defiant in the face of the threat of torture, at least until he yawned widely. Sinestro scowled at him but Hal just twitched his shoulders in an attempt to shrug, unapologetic. "I'm not afraid of being all bound up by you. I'm desensitised to it. And you know I'll die before I betray the Corps. But those Lanterns out there -" Hal flicked his gaze to the door - "are gonna want some results. So get on with it."

A hard edge had slipped into Hal's tone he wasn't messing around anymore, this was a challenge. "What's taking you so long? Think you can't do it? Didn't know you were a coward, Thaal -" Hal was abruptly cut off, a hand at his throat, cutting off his vocal cords and his ability to breathe. Even though he knew it was pointless, he tried to drag air into his lungs but he got no result, felt choked.

"Hal... Why so flippant?" Sinestro growled, his breath against Hal's lips, though it did nothing to stop the oncoming dizziness. "Do you truly believe I could not break you? I could. But only given time I do not have. Torturing you now would do nothing for me, and then I'd have to kill you for refusing to speak. Such a waste."

After a second more, in which Hal felt sure he would black out, Sinestro released him. No sooner had Hal started gasping for breath, drawing great mouthfuls of air into his lungs, than he felt the cold touch of a sharp blade to the bare skin of his chest. It was centimetres from splitting his skin open.

Knives didn't scare Hal, torture didn't scare Hal, and he made sure to let Sinestro know it, jaw setting even as his chest heaved. "At least if you kill me, your Corps won't think you're weak. They'll be satisfied." Sinestro would be safe from them. "So just -" Hal sucked in a breath, the knife had slipped down and he was pulling back from the dangerous point the only way he could - "just get on with it."

"My Corps don't control me," Sinestro argued against Hal's concerns. "If they have any complaints, I need only start slaughtering them, one by one." Knife retracting, Sinestro sat at Hal's side, on the table. It was hard to see him, as though Sinestro was deliberately sitting at the very edge of Hal's vision, teasing him. "Your life or theirs. I know which is worth more to me."

Well, Hal didn't, uncertain what Sinestro was trying to say. Would he torture Hal or not? "Would it bother you, were my Corps to kill me?" Sinestro asked him then, for Hal had remained quiet. "They will try, should I not torture and kill you as expected. You understand that, don't you? Is that why you are so insistent I avoid such a scenario by carrying out this interrogation?"

The hard tips of Sinestro's nails tapped against the construct blade in his lap, the sound cut through the air. He was waiting for an answer, but there was no way Hal was going to confess to it. "I cannot," Sinestro finally decided. "I will not go through with this. You are worth more than the Lanterns who have no faith in me. I will kill them to save you."

The only problem was, to Hal, Sinestro might not be able to accomplish that. There were thousands of Yellow Lanterns, Sinestro couldn't fight back all of them. And to do it for Hal was just - Hal refused to let it happen. "Don't." His voice was rough, both from nearly being strangled and from his surge of desperation. "My life isn't important. Do your duty to your Corps so they don't kill you."

"You admit then, to trying to protect me?" Sinestro followed up quickly, and he had relaxed somewhat by now, comfortable conversing with Hal now he'd made his decision on what to do. His fingers slid down, while Hal was back to being stubbornly silent, and found the strap holding Hal's head against the table. It was made quick work of, fell away, and Hal obligingly turned his head to the side.

Moving his head felt good, but even better was the touch of Sinestro's hand to his cheek, the fingers that massaged down his neck. "What is it that keeps us on different sides, when we remain so determined to protect each other?" Sinestro's voice was unusually soft, his touch gentle, and Hal was lost as to the answer, when he knew he shouldn't be. There were so many reasons.

"It's you." Throwing caution to the winds, Hal was letting his desperation show, openly goading Sinestro into torturing him now. "Everything's your fault, Sin. You're a nightmare. To be around. I don't know how your Corps put up with it. I certainly can't." It was the best Hal could do, given the circumstances, but he didn't think it was good enough.

A small smile twitched at Sinestro's lips, definitely the wrong reaction, not what Hal was looking for. "I'm not going to hurt you, Hal. You may as well stop trying to make me." The knife in Sinestro's lap disappeared, he clasped his hands together, pulling them back from Hal. "I can protect myself from my Corps, do you truly believe I cannot? Where has this lack of faith come from, I wonder?"

"It's not about you," Hal muttered, frustrated Sinestro was being so stubborn and was liable to get himself killed. "Though you can definitely be a little over confident. None of your Corps would die to protect you. You might have to fight all of them. They're not -" None of them would even come close to going to the lengths Hal once would've to protect Sinestro, but he cut himself off, didn't want to think about that. "The Green Lanterns will come for me soon anyway."

The change of subject, while obvious, wasn't protested against and Sinestro looked thoughtful. "I do not believe they will. If I had any confidence they could arrive before I killed you, perhaps I would deign to put on a show of torturing you, to satisfy my Corps. But they will not come. You will not be saved. Do not delude yourself. They would be here already, if they cared in the slightest bit for you. I would be."

It was the truth Hal didn't want to hear. "Yeah, well," he said, and struggled to think of a retort. "You're not a Green Lantern anymore. You don't count. There must be some reason they're not here yet. They haven't noticed I'm missing or they're having trouble finding out where I am. They actually like me, they're not going to abandon me."

It was evident in Sinestro's expression, he didn't believe a word. However, Hal refused to give up, mouth set into a hard line as he stared Sinestro down. "If you insist..." The knife was back, it was brought down towards Hal and he flinched, sure it would cut him, that Sinestro had finally decided to start the torture. Several of the straps were sliced away, Sinestro's knife had freed Hal, not hurt him. "... You are more of a fool than I thought."

Fortunately, Hal wasn't paying enough attention to be insulted by that, he was busy pulling himself up off the table and shaking out his stiff muscles. "That is so much better," he almost moaned, momentarily forgetting where he was, why he'd been tied down. "I don't know how I was going to spend another minute like - whoa, easy there." Sinestro had just shoved him back against the table, hands on his chest.

The surface of the table was again digging into Hal's shoulder blades, it was hard against his bare skin but he cared much less than before. Because Sinestro's nails were digging into his chest and it felt unbelievably good, the sharp pinch that slowly eased off as he grew used to it. And the feeling that Sinestro had hooked in, didn't plan to be letting him go anytime soon.

"Stay with me," Sinestro requested, and Hal was drawn to his face, to his eyes, the inky colour of his sclera and the bright colour embedded in the center. "I won't abandon you, like the Green Lanterns have. I'll fight to keep you here, you'll have nothing to fear from my Corps or yours. Won't you accept?" Although the offer had come from out of the blue, it was so hard to resist, never got easier and probably never would.

Even on his back with Sinestro poised in a position where it would be easy to rip him open, Hal wasn't afraid. A strand of hair he tucked back from Sinestro's forehead, he moved his hand down, caressing Sinestro's cheek, and then brushed a thumb over his chin. Anything to put off the moment when he had to refuse, deny Sinestro what he wanted. It hurt more than the torture that could have been carried out. "I can't," Hal was soft but firm, and Sinestro's nostrils flared. Whether he was angry or upset, Hal didn't know.

For a moment more, Sinestro remained where he was, and Hal craved that moment more than anything, wished to drag it out. Then Sinestro had disengaged, spun on his heel and stalked off. Hal didn't want him to leave. "Wait!" Scrambling, Hal pulled himself up again and he caught a glance of where Sinestro had grabbed him, the pale skin red and flushed. Hand on the door handle, Sinestro paused. "What about your Corps?" Hal was quick to ask. "Let me help you."

Across the room, Sinestro's expression was just as impassive as it had been when he was pacing. "No." His tone was icy. "You have forgone the right to care for me. Mind your own business and leave before I make you." Through the air, Sinestro tossed a bright green spark, Hal's ring hit him square in the forehead. Of course Sinestro had perfect aim. What wasn't he good at? And then Sinestro was gone, door slamming, and Hal was left alone, to return to his own universe.


End file.
